Pickering has barged past his more famous British 100m rivals

The 20-year-old was chosen ahead of Mark Lewis-Francis after his win in the Glasgow Grand Prix earlier this month.

Lewis-Francis tops the UK rankings with a time of 10.19secs, but Pickering soundly beat him in what was always considered the "EuroCup trial".

The selectors' other close call for the Munich event saw them go for Tim Benjamin over Andy Steele in the 400m.

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UK Athletics performance director Dave Collins said at the weekend that the one-lap choice would be one of the tougher decisions, but it comes as little surprise that he and his colleagues have opted for Benjamin's experience.

We are confident we have selected the best team for what is always a challenging pair of fixtures UK Athletics' Dave Collins

Steele, 22, came into the reckoning for the Super League match after a strong start to the season. He also beat Benjamin in Glasgow.

Benjamin, who had a slow start to his season because of illness, then proved his fitness when winning in Turin last Friday clocking 45.80.

But the Welshman's performance was bettered less than 24 hours later when Steele produced a much faster time and lifetime best of 45.31 in Geneva.

Collins admitted: "Even this early in the season some good performances made for some very difficult selection decisions.

"However, we are confident we have selected the best team for what is always a challenging pair of fixtures."

Jason Gardener has pulled of the 4x100m team because of worries over his Achilles and has been replaced by Tim Abeyie of Woodford Green & Essex Ladies.

The women's side which will be aiming to bounce back to Super League status at the First League 'A' match in Vaasa, Finland, is less controversial, although much rides on Jo Pavey.

She has been chosen for her Commonwealth silver-medal winning distance of 5,000m, just a week before she will attempt to gain the qualifying standard over 10,000m for the World Championships.

It will be possibly be her last opportunity to achieve the qualifing time for Osaka in August, and it was expected she might be rested or chosen for the shorter 3,000m race to help prepare.

Norwich Union Great Britain & Northern Ireland teams for the European Cup

Men (competing at the Super League in Munich):

100m: Craig Pickering (Milton Keynes AC)
200m: Marlon Devonish (Coventry Godiva)
400m: Tim Benjamin (Belgrave Harriers)
800m: Michael Rimmer (Liverpool, Pembroke & Sefton)
1500m: Andy Baddeley (Harrow)
3,000m: Nick McCormick (Morpeth Harriers)
5,000m: Chris Thompson (Aldershot, Farnham & District)
3,000m steeplechase: Andrew Lemoncello (Fife AC)
110m hurdles: Andy Turner (Sale Harriers)
400m hurdles: Ben Crane (Harrow)
High Jump: Germaine Mason (Birchfield Harriers)
Pole Vault: Steve Lewis (Newham & Essex)
Long Jump: Chris Tomlinson (Newham & Essex)
Triple Jump: Phillips Idowu (Belgrave Harriers)
Shot: Carl Myerscough (Blackpool & Fylde)
Discus: Emeka Udechuku (Woodford Green & Essex Ladies)
Hammer: Andy Frost (Woodford Green & Essex Ladies)
Javelin: Nick Nieland (Shaftesbury Barnet)
4X100m squad: Marlon Devonish (Coventry Godiva), Tyrone Edgar (Woodford Green & Essex Ladies), Tim Abeyie (Woodford Green & Essex Ladies), Mark Lewis-Francis (Birchfield Harriers), Christian Malcolm (Cardiff AAC), Craig Pickering (Milton Keynes AC)
4X400m squad: Tim Benjamin (Belgrave Harriers), Daniel Caines (Belgrave Harriers), Graham Hedman (Woodford Green & Essex Ladies), Martyn Rooney (Croydon Harriers), Richard Strachan (Leeds City),Andrew Steele (Trafford AC)

Women (competing in the First League 'A' in Vaasa, Finland)

100m: Joice Maduaka (Woodford Green & Essex Ladies)
200m: Joice Maduaka (Woodford Green & Essex Ladies)
400m: Nicola Sanders (Windsor, Slough, Eton & Hounslow)
800m: Marilyn Okoro (Shaftesbury Barnet)
1500m: Abby Westley (Hallamshire Harriers)
3,000m: Lisa Dobriskey (Ashford AC)
5,000m: Jo Pavey (Bristol & West AC)
3,000m Steeplechase: Hatti Dean (Hallamshire Harriers)
100m hurdles: Sarah Claxton (Woodford Green & Essex Ladies)
400m: Natasha Danvers-Smith (Shaftesbury Barnet)
High Jump: Stephanie Pywell (Sale Harriers)
Pole Vault: Kate Dennison (Sale Harriers)
Long Jump: Jade Johnson (Herne Hill Harriers)
Triple Jump: Nadia Williams (Shaftesbury Barnet)
Shot: Eva Massey (Belgrave Harriers)
Discus: Kara Nwidobie-Sharpe (Blackpool & Fylde)
Hammer: Zoe Derham (Birchfield Harriers)
Javelin: Goldie Sayers (Peterborough AC)
4X100m squad: Montell Douglas (Blackheath & Bromley), Emily Freeman (Wakefield & District), Joice Maduaka (Woodford Green & Essex Ladies), Anyika Onuora (Liverpool Harriers), Kadi Ann Thomas (Milton Keynes), Laura Turner (Harrow), AN Other TBC.
4X400m squad: Lee McConnell (Shaftesbury Barnet), Jenny Meadows (Wigan & District), Marilyn Okoro (Shaftesbury Barnet), Nicola Sanders (Windsor, Slough, Eton & Hounslow).